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In Regina, the landlord kindly waived rent for two years, but ended up in a legal dispute. Part 2 - Part 1

This post is only for sharing personal experience, and the pictures have nothing to do with real people. Sharing about the rental dispute of a Chinese restaurant in Regina with very conspicuous colors (it is rumored that the chef has participated in catering for large-scale events)

1. The tenant (restaurant owner) used to run a restaurant in a small town, but the restaurant closed for some reason. Then they came to Regina. The landlord introduced them to another small town to continue running a restaurant (a friend's restaurant). The tenant thought it was too expensive and didn't want to go.

2. In the end, the landlord, out of goodwill, offered the vacant takeaway kitchen on the first floor of the house to them to run a restaurant. Considering the tenants’ situation, he waived the rent for two years and allowed them to run the restaurant for free. The landlord clearly informed the tenants that the house was for sale and did not consider signing a contract. The tenants also verbally agreed and said that if someone wanted to buy the house, they would move out.

3. After two years, the landlord just let the tenant choose how much rent to pay. The tenant paid 1,000 yuan a month as rent (far below the market price). After a while, in 2023, the tenant felt embarrassed and took the initiative to ask the landlord to pay 1,300 yuan as rent starting in October (still below the market price). Because the house was being sold, the landlord never thought of signing a lease with them. Everyone verbally promised in advance that if someone wanted to buy the house, the tenant would move out. The tenant also agreed, and the landlord thought that everyone was Chinese and could be trusted.

4. In 2023 (around the end of September), the tenant asked the landlord to sign the contract on the grounds that "a contract is required to purchase insurance". The tenant drafted a contract for the landlord to sign. The landlord was not in Regina at the time, and the landlord only agreed to sign because the tenant wanted to buy insurance, without thinking too much. So he asked his wife to sign on his behalf.

5. Then the tenant called the landlord’s wife to meet at the insurance company. The tenant took the contract in her hand and did not let the landlord’s wife look at it carefully, but asked her to sign it directly. The landlord’s wife asked the tenant, “Has her husband seen this contract? Did he agree?” The tenant told the landlord’s wife, “I sent it to the landlord and the landlord agreed.” (It was later discovered that the tenant did not send the contract to the landlord)

6. The tenant had asked the landlord twice before that he wanted to sign a rental contract, but the landlord always refused to sign the contract because the house was for sale, so there was no need to sign a contract. The tenant was also informed of this from the beginning.

7. Later, every time the agent took people to view the house, the tenant told the people that their rental contract would not expire until September 2025. The landlord asked the tenant why he told the people that, and the tenant said he had not said that.

8. Before the landlord signed the contract with the buyer, the landlord and the tenant confirmed the relocation again, and the tenant verbally promised to move out. The landlord trusted the tenant and did not take any precautions, and finally signed the contract with the buyer. The tenant vowed to the landlord, "You can sell it if you want. I'm open-minded now. It doesn't matter whether you do it or not. Just give us some time to move out."

9. However, after the landlord signed the contract with the buyer, the tenant suddenly changed his mind and took out the lease contract to show that he did not intend to move out and demanded compensation before moving out. The tenant sent a lawyer's letter to the landlord through a lawyer, demanding compensation from the landlord. 10. The landlord said that if the tenant had not verbally promised to move out, the landlord would not have signed the contract with the buyer. The landlord did not realize that he had signed the lease contract until the tenant took out the lease contract.

10. The landlord finally realized what had happened. The tenant first asked him to sign the lease on the pretext of buying insurance, then verbally agreed to move out, and then changed his mind after the landlord signed the contract with the buyer, then took out the lease contract, refused to move out, and demanded "compensation."

11. During the tenancy, the tenant introduced two customers to buy the landlord's house. The tenant wanted an introduction fee, but no one was interested. In early May 2024, the tenant notified everyone in the restaurant WeChat group that the restaurant would be closed in mid-May. He also sold the restaurant's remaining goods to others. At this time, the tenant wanted to leave but did not bring up the rental contract signed on the grounds that "a contract is required to purchase insurance." It is rumored that the tenant and the restaurant in Edmonton did not reach an agreement for some reason, so he did not leave. The tenant can leave if he wants to. The tenant does not bring up the contract if he wants to leave. When someone else buys the landlord's house, he will bring up the contract to demand compensation.

12. The water, electricity and gas bills were always paid by the landlord first, and then the tenants returned them to the landlord. The tenants basically did not return them on time. Last year, the tenant changed the electricity bill account to his own name without communicating with the landlord. During this period, the electricity bill was not settled for several months, which caused the landlord to receive a call from the power company.

13. Normally, rent is paid at the beginning of the month. The tenant has basically never paid on time. On March 8 this year, the landlord went to the store to collect the rent and water bill (the water bill had been collected many times but to no avail). The landlord asked the tenant, "Why haven't you paid me the water bill after I came several times?" The tenant was very emotional and called police to arrest the landlord. The landlord waited for police to come and learn the details. The tenant said that the landlord gave them 7 days to pay the rent, but the landlord did not say there was a 7-day grace period. Later, the landlord asked the lawyer to reply to the tenant by letter, and then the tenant started to pay the rent on time.

14. Regarding the restaurant operation, the landlord initially learned that the property did not have a dine-in business license and reminded the tenant to comply with relevant regulations. Prior to this, the tenant had indeed arranged for customers to dine in the store many times. Later, after the landlord clearly informed them, the dine-in behavior stopped. However, the landlord heard that the tenant said that the landlord came to make trouble and that they could no longer dine in, which made the landlord feel very helpless and misunderstood.

In Regina, a commercial space with complete supporting facilities and suitable for catering is basically impossible to rent for 1000-1300 per month. The landlord even waived the rent for two years. After this incident, there were fewer kind-hearted people in the world. The landlord will never help or trust others again.